But his boycott suggestion became one of the most discussed topics on Russian-language Twitter.

"I want to officially send Hugh Laurie to hell along with his opinion of our goods and his plans to boycott them," wrote popular blogger Ilya Varlamov.

"Hugh called for a boycott of all goods produced in Russia, in passing insulting one of the main brands of our country, Russian vodka," sports journalist Stepan Chaushyan wrote on the website of the Argumenty i Fakty mass-circulation weekly.

"Hugh forgot one thing: Russian money could very easily boycott him," he added, pointing out that Laurie has given several blues concerts in Russia.

"That's right, go ahead and boycott us, but you'll have to start with gas, not vodka," wrote one commentator, Savva Mirosh, on the website of state television channel NTV.

In New York last summer, demonstrators poured vodka down drains to protest against Russia's law banning gay propaganda.

Laurie's outburst won praise from gay rights supporters.

"With what irony and how correctly he noted everything. Thank you, Hugh," wrote Matvei Alexandrov on the Gay.ru website.

Laurie's former comedy partner in the series Jeeves and Wooster, Stephen Fry, who is openly gay, has criticised the anti-gay law and backed a boycott of the Winter Olympics starting in the Russian resort city of Sochi on February 7.